Four All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MLAs have resigned from the Tamil Nadu Assembly over two days, with three of them joining the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam, The Hindu reported.Three of them, Maragatham Kumaravel, the MLA from Madurantakam, Sathyabama P from Dharapuram and Jayakumar S from Perundurai, resigned from the Assembly on Monday. The Speaker later announced that the resignations had been accepted.Later in the day, the three leaders met Public Works Department Minister Aadhav Arjuna at the Secretariat and joined Chief Minister Vijay’s TVK.On Tuesday, a fourth MLA, Esakki Subaya from the Ambasamudram constituency, met the Speaker and resigned, The Hindu reported.The resignations have triggered a political row with respect to the speaker’s decision to accept them while disqualification proceedings against the MLAs are pending.The resignations have reduced the AIADMK’s strength in the Assembly to 43.Subaya said he had taken the decision “keeping in mind the welfare of the people” of his constituency and would issue a detailed explanation later, The New Indian Express reported.The other three MLAs also said their resignations were taken in the interest of their constituencies and were not motivated by any “selfish agenda”.The resignations came amid an internal split within the AIADMK.All four MLAs are part of the faction led by former ministers CV Shanmugam and SP Velumani. The other faction is led by the party’s general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami.On Monday, Palaniswami criticised the defections, accusing the ruling TVK of engaging in “horse trading” and “underhand dealings”, The Hindu reported.Without naming the chief minister, Palaniswami accused a “cinema celebrity” who had promised purity in politics of introducing “vulgar politics” in Tamil Nadu.Meanwhile, AIADMK leaders submitted a representation from Palaniswami to the Speaker objecting to the acceptance of the resignations, The New Indian Express reportedThe faction argued that petitions seeking the disqualification of 25 MLAs for allegedly defying the party whip during the confidence vote on May 13 were still pending, and that the Speaker acted in haste by accepting their resignations.In the Assembly elections, the AIADMK won 47 of the 167 seats it contested, while the TVK emerged as the single-largest party in its electoral debut with 108 seats in the 234-member House, falling short of the majority mark of 118.On May 13, the Vijay-led government won a confidence motion in the Assembly with support from 144 MLAs, including 105 from the TVK, five from the Congress, Two each from the Communist Party of India, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi and the Indian Union Muslim League, along with 25 rebel AIADMK MLAs led by Velumani and one Independent MLA.Congress leader quits citing party principles Meanwhile, Congress youth wing national secretary V Srinidhi resigned from the party’s primary membership after the TVK inducted the three former AIADMK MLAs, The Hindu reported on Tuesday.In her resignation letter, Srinidhi said the move by the Congress’ post-poll ally had raised concerns about the party’s political principles and consistency, especially as the Congress had maintained it would not align with “divisive forces”.“This is not just a resignation from a post; it is a response born out of conscience that can no longer accept the breakdown of trust between leadership,” she said.Edited by Neerad Pandharipande.